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Well, what better way to spend a glorious sunny Tuesday…than down the local bus depot!
In London, Secrets is being advertised on the sides of 150 double deckers all over the network! I thought it would a giggle – and a bit of a thrill – to put up one of these impressive ads. They’re HUGE!
First, you have to stick the visual on a board – and it’s a massive sheet of sticky back plastic!
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Here I am at the CBS warehouse in Walthamstow with the lovely John Steer and his team
Next it was off to the Arriva bus company’s London North depot, at Enfield, with the wonderful Mick who kept the ladder steady and told me what to do!
off with Nokia! Up with Freya!
There are 150 buses across the London network, emblazoned with Secrets! If you see one – give it a big wave… and let me know!
A hearty thank you to all the great guys at CBS, to everyone at the Arriva depot – and especially to the fab CBS girls – l-r: Catherine, Michelle and Stephanie.
You made my day – you really did!
The Author and Her Assistant
(who tried to charge me 50p)
(we settled on an ice-cream… which turned out to be a damn sight more expensive!)
Well! What an exhausting, exhilarating day! My 10th novel is now, officially, published – and it was an utter thrill for your author to be out and about, nipping into book shops left, right and centre and seeing Secrets on the shelves! For me, the excitement of publication simply has not diminished one jot over the years.
Bizarrely, in Selfridges, the sales assistants refused to let me sign copies of Secrets until they’d had a long (rather stern) look at my author pic in the book to verify I was indeed who I claimed to be!
There are currently signed copies at Selfridges, at Waterstones opposite Selfridges and at Borders, Oxford Street. I’ll be sure to let you know as and when and where I sign more!
Hope you’re enjoying the new video section on the website – and that you’ve found the competition too!
What a day! So many lovely messages from you lot. Where would I be without you? Your seal of approval is more precious, more ‘real’ to me, than a month in the Top 10 (though that’d be rather nice too!)
Look at what I did to the sand at Saltburn on Sunday…
I thought it rather inspired marketing….and it was clearly visible for all on the pier to see! Saltburn Pier has been awarded the Best Pier in Britain for 2009 (Pier of the Year sounds better…). As most of you know, Secrets, my 10th novel (out on 30th April) is set in this wonderful, quirky Victorian seaside town.
Here I am, chasing Felix and Georgia off my handy work!
We were up in the North East because I was invited to give a talk in Whitby. It was excellent and I am so grateful to the staff of the Library (especially Allison) and all the lovely people (hullo Sharon Stone!) who came from far and wide to listen to me blether.
I also took videos at the Transporter Bridge, as well as at Saltburn, to provide you with my own tours of the settings of Secrets. I did the same for the settings of Pillow Talk (Stokesley and Great Ayton) and when I’m feeling particularly brave and technical, I’ll do my best to upload them for you!
I have to beaver away this week on a short story for Radio 4′s “Love in the Afternoon” which will be broadcast in June. I HATE writing short stories – it’ll take me longer to write than it takes me to write a couple of chapters. I think it was Browning or Byron or Someone Else Worthy Beginning With B who said “it would have been shorter had I had more time”. Give me 140,000 words over 2,000 words any day. How on earth can I fit a beginning, a middle and an end into THAT? Grrrrr.
Whitby Library 17th April 7 pm
Haringey Library (Crouch End) 29th April 7 pm
York Library 13th May 7 pm
Haringey Library (Alexandra Park) 26th May 7 pm
more dates soon…will keep you posted!
Well, let the countdown to publication commence – in 30 days time, my 10th novel, Secrets, will be on the shelves and even though I’m an old hand at this publishing milarky, I assure you I’m still all of a jitter! The anticipation of publication – and the thrill of seeing my book out there in the stores has not diminished one jot over the years. I’m so proud of Secrets – my editor told me she feels it has the ‘most satisfying and complete ending’ she’s read in a long while. I’ll be on tenterhooks to see if you agree! Certainly, while I was writing it, the last third of the book seemed magically to tell itself – somedays, I’d sit working in the library and it was as if the characters were dictating the tale directly to me. As you’ll know from my Advice section, I never plan my novels so it’s as exciting for me to see how they unfold as (I hope) it is for you when you read them.
In our gloomy times, I hope a little love and romance will go a long way for you, gentle reader. And I hope the bright jacket design will sing out. I’m SO into colour at the mo’ – colour was my starting point for the new-look covers (I’ll be letting you have a sneak preview of the re-designed ‘back-list’ very soon). One of my reference points was one of favourite ads, which I think is genius – the iPod Nano ad – that gorgeous ooze of colours with little mention needed for what the machines could actually do! Talking of colour, there are a couple of exciting promos for Secrets – including a sweet-as-you-like scarf if you buy the book at Sainsbury’s and ALL the copies have a discount voucher for gorgeous Ruby and Millie cosmetics as well as a chance to win a Ruby and Millie makeover and goody bags.
It’s been a busy time for me – last week I went off on a slight tangent, speaking at the Best of Britain show in London – my topic was ‘How Popular Culture Influences Tourism’ and I was able to witter on about how important to me location and a sense of place are. Which leads me on to sharing with you a new accolade about which I’m extremely excited and honoured – I’ve been made an official Ambassador for the North East. As you know, the North East really is my spiritual home – despite being born a posh southern totty! I can’t wait to see what the Regional Development Agency for the North East have in store for me. And I’m itching to journey North again from London in a fortnight. I’m doing an event in Whitby on 17th April, and another in York on 13th May. I’ll be posting up a more detailed schedule shortly.
Talking of authors who have a passion for specific locations, I’ll let you into a secret – I blagged my way into University…! At my interview, the professor asked what texts I was doing for my English A level. When I said ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ he asked what I liked about Hardy. For a horrible moment my mind went completely blank. Then I remembered an essay I’d recently written – the title was ‘Landscape is not merely a backdrop in the novels of Thomas Hardy, but a leading character in them. Discuss.’ So, I cleared my throat and gazed pensively out of the window. “Well,” I told the Prof whilst pulling a selection of faces which suggested I was formulating a well-considered answer, “what I find SO fascinating is how, in Hardy’s novels, landscape is not merely a backdrop – but a leading character.” He agreed wholeheartedly. And I won my place.
My new heroine, in Secrets, is called Tess…so there you go, a nicely rounded-off blog…
Many of you have been in touch asking whether I’ve written a short story for the infamous anthology just published, In Bed With….
It’s edited by my great friend, the marvellous Australian author (and so much more) Jessica Adams. I met Jessica whilst involved with the Girls Night In anthologies – she’s a remarkable woman – read her book I’m A Believer – it’s one of my all-time favourite reads!
Anyway, back to the matter in hand, no – I didn’t contribute a story to In Bed With… Partly because I was up to my neck writing Secrets, partly because I’ve always written pretty raunchy scenes (yes alright – downright dirty) in my mainstream novels and thus didn’t feel I needed an outlet in which to do so!
The In Bed With girls have written under larky pseudonyms that combine their first pet’s name/ the road in which they grew up. It’s a bit of fun and an excellent PR/ Sales angle – but I do wonder would they not have been proud to put their own names to their work? And I don’t use the word ‘work’ lightly – I find writing short stories excruciatingly difficult – I could write three or four chapters in the time it takes to write a short story – give me 140,000 words over 2,500 words any day!
The shortest story my poor Dad has read was a mere 21 words long… It was the opening of my first novel Sally… and because the 22nd word was, erm, risque he hasn’t read a single word I’ve written since – and I’m now 10 novels and 12 years down the road!
Well, my last post generated a lively response – thanks to all of you who gave a little time and shared your thoughts. Authors, readers, publishers, agents – even a QC – joined in the debate both on my website, on my facebook page and also the blog I wrote for thebookseller.com. Anyway, the upshot was… apparently I should be a nice, quiet lady-like author who doesn’t take to her soap-box… Read into that what you will!!
Slapped wrists aside, a lovely consequence of all the hoo-ha was other sites linking to this one. As you know, I’m new to blogging and at first all this blinkin’ linkin’ flummoxed me. However, I rather like it now – it makes the world a smaller place, a friendlier place and it makes cyber-space not such a scary place for yours truly. Following one such link, I discovered a really lovely website that champions women’s commercial fiction and has lots of interesting pages. And I’m loving the name: trashionista.com!
I’ve come across plenty of weirdy/ snidey/ fairly venomous blogspots which simply go out of their way to belitte and even attack the genre I write – so it was really great to discover such support out there. A hearty THANK YOU.
At some point soon, I will scramble back onto my high horse/ climb aboard my soapbox and have a good ol’ sound-off about those who denigrate (yeah yeah, author’s fancy word for ‘slag off’) my type of fiction… but in the light of my last blog, I think I ought to keep this post nice and anodyne…
Tomorrow I’m off for a long weekend to Spain (if the snow holds off) as it’s half term. This trip, I’m perhaps more excited about the airport, than the destination – as it will be my first first chance to see Secrets in the airport bookshops. I want to tell you that for me, the thrill of seeing copies of my books is as strong now as it was for my very first novel, Sally. So – if there are any staff reading this who work at Luton – keep your eyes open for the mad woman craftily repositioning books… she may even approach you, all flushed and a bit hyper, squealing ‘I wrote it! Please can I sign it!’
A website I frequently visit to keep up to date with the latest publications is lovereading because it’s so much more than a standard online bookstore. I am taking with me Revolutionary Road (Richard Yates) and Mister Pip (Lloyd Jones) – two books I’ve long wanted to read.
I hasten to add that I will also be taking my copy of Grazia (a sacred weekly institution for me) – which I bought on Tuesday and have managed to not open since! Saving it for the plane, I am – the kids will no doubt run amock, up and down the aisle, while Mummy buries her nose in that glorious publication but hey, it’s only a two and a half hour flight to Malaga….and Monarch air-hostesses are famously fab.
One final thing: I was a question yesterday on the Weakest Link…but apparently, the silly chap’s answer was WRONG!
Well, you know you’ve made it when one of your novels is featured in a soap opera… Thanks so much to you eagle-eyed readers who spotted an original edition of ‘Polly‘ in Coronation Street! This honour has to rank as highly as being a question on the Weakest Link…and a clue in the Daily Mirror crossword (I still dine out on those to this day…)
So, Cheryl Cole is to write a series of ‘chick-lit’ novels… Hmmm, what do I think about that? (check out my comments on the Bookseller blog) Ms Cole is gorgeous and talented…as a singer and celebrity. But can she hack it as a novelist? Does she actually know what it entails? Where’s her track record of being able to write 100,000+ words of original fiction? And hold on… isn’t she a singer? Has she ever said “if I wasn’t in Girls Aloud, I’d love to be a novelist”? Did I miss an interview when she’s previously revealed “all I’ve ever wanted to do is write…”? The quote I read said she hadn’t previously thought of writing, but that she’s “come around to the idea”.
Tell me she isn’t going to have her very own secret ghost-writer? Tell me that her fine UK publisher won’t now reject and forfeit fine unpublished novelists because they’d prefer to spend a vulgar amount on Ms Cole’s advance?
An author’s life can be a lonely ol’ existence – my working days are spent almost entirely on my own, concentrating very hard, doing committed research, putting in the hours and crucial fastidiousness to ensure I write good fiction. Will Cheryl have the time necessary to do this? And will she mind the long periods away from the limelight while she knuckles down to write?
Writing a novel is not about ‘burning ambition’ – where ambition is solely about publication or money or fame. For a novel to be a good novel – and worthy of the kind readers who part with their cash to buy it – it can only arise from the author’s absolute desire to write that story out of their system – and being blessed with the necessary talent to do so.
I keep my promises, me…
(fanfare, please…)
I am proud to present, for your delectation and delight, a sneak preview of the Secrets jacket design. I hope you like it. It will be available in the airports from February 5th, and in paperback, in the UK, from May 5th. My backlist will all be sporting snazzy new covers too, later in the year. And you know where you’ll find them first…right here!
Please let me know what you think – I’ll be on tenterhooks for your response and will feed it back to my publishers directly.
Freya x
Well, most of you know that my new novel, Secrets, is set in a sea-side town in the North East of England and features a bridge-builder and a runaway… but many of you have been saying ‘yes yes Freya, but what’s the book ABOUT?’ Well, the easiest way for me to tell you more is to give you a sneak preview of the ‘blurb’ on the back cover! So here it is, a world exclusive, just for you…
“They drive each other crazy.
And they both have something to hide.
But we all have our secrets.
It’s just some are bigger than others…
Joe has a beautiful house, a great job, no commitments – and he likes it like that. All he needs is a quiet house-sitter for his rambling old place by the sea. When Tess turns up on his doorstep, he’s not sure she’s right for the job. Where has she come from in such a hurry? Her past is a blank and she’s a bit of an enigma. But there’s something about her – even though sparks fly every time they meet.
And it looks like she’s here to stay…”
Well, I hope that’s whetted your appetite! The publication date for the UK is May 5th – though it’ll be available as a special edition at the airports from February… I’ll be letting you see the cover shortly (another world exclusive, folks) and I’ll be telling you more about the book too… Hopefully without revealing too many ‘secrets’ and giving the entire plot away in the process. But you know me, I’m such a blabbermouth….so watch this space!
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